Canon T6/T6i

[Ecuador]

Considering upgrading to either T6 or T6i. Reviews seem positive. Anyone purchased one of these new cameras?

[peety3]

Considering upgrading to either T6 or T6i. Reviews seem positive. Anyone purchased one of these new cameras?

What camera do you have now, and what lenses do you own? What do you wish was better on your current camera?

[Ecuador]

peety3

 

currently have a canon t2i .

Lenses

Canon 18 -135 f3.5 -5.6 is STM

Canon 10 -22 f3.5 -4.5 USM

Canon 70 -200 f4

I have not upgraded the body in the past as the newer cameras were only minor upgrades but this appears to be a major upgrade ie better sensor ,higher pixel count, wi fi ,etc.

[peety3]

I'd say you're looking at a nice upgrade. I wouldn't buy for megapixels, and I'm not sure the Wifi features are truly mature yet, but the overall technology improvements (ISO performance, AF performance, general camera responsiveness, clarity of menus, etc.) will be very dramatic for you.

 

I haven't owned a Rebel in several years though, so I can't speak directly to these models.

[ab21au]

I have the T2i and also the 6D and the WiFi on the 6D is fantastic, use it often for remote operation. So the upgrade for WiFi alone would be great. When I use the T2i I often wish I had the WiFi to use.

 

I also think it a worthwhile upgrade.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[ikirumata]

I am also in the Canon T2i camp. Like others, I have had no pressing need to upgrade. Ask yourself first, why are you wanting to upgrade? For me, my frustration lies in 2 areas (yours may be different)...Low light shooting and autofocus, both which can be a challenge with the T2i (especially with faster lenses...no micro adjust on the T2i :( ). Low light shooting could be made better with faster lenses, flash, and/or a tripod, but autofocus, especially if shooting moving objects, is more a function of the camera. If I were in the market to upgrade (and wanted to stay with Canon), I would consider a refurbished/used 70d, 7d or even a 1D mkiii before going with another Rebel. All of those fall into the price range of a new T6i.

 

Another option is to sell all your gear and move to another manufacturer. Sony and Nikon are both offering inexpensive options that may solve whatever issues you may be having with the T2i.

 

Good luck!

[peety3]

I have the T2i and also the 6D and the WiFi on the 6D is fantastic, use it often for remote operation. So the upgrade for WiFi alone would be great. When I use the T2i I often wish I had the WiFi to use.

I think the key to the Wifi is to have the right expectations. It's a great way to remote-control your camera. It's probably not ready for prime-time photo transfer and "direct" posting to social media.

[peety3]

If I were in the market to upgrade (and wanted to stay with Canon), I would consider a refurbished/used 70d, 7d or even a 1D mkiii before going with another Rebel. All of those fall into the price range of a new T6i.

Very interesting perspective. I'm about to sell our two 7D bodies, as they've really started to show their age with respect to ISO performance or lack thereof (we don't like pushing them beyond 1600). The AF is good but (as an owner of 1Dx and 5D3 bodies) not great. I'm also about to sell my 1D3 body, as I feel the image quality just isn't comparable to the newer gear. The 1D3 does out-focus the 7D by a mile though - the 7D frame rate really shows a noticeable slowing as the light gets dim, finally getting to a point where it's hunting. In the same light with the same lenses, the 1D3 is still clicking along at nearly full frame rate.

[ikirumata]

Very interesting perspective. I'm about to sell our two 7D bodies, as they've really started to show their age with respect to ISO performance or lack thereof (we don't like pushing them beyond 1600). The AF is good but (as an owner of 1Dx and 5D3 bodies) not great. I'm also about to sell my 1D3 body, as I feel the image quality just isn't comparable to the newer gear. The 1D3 does out-focus the 7D by a mile though - the 7D frame rate really shows a noticeable slowing as the light gets dim, finally getting to a point where it's hunting. In the same light with the same lenses, the 1D3 is still clicking along at nearly full frame rate.

 

The 1d3s are cheap these days, and I expect them to get cheaper once the 1dx2 comes out (who knows, the 1d4 might get cheaper too). A used 1d3 is going for under $700 these days. Im of the belief that just because the latest and greatest is out, last generation's latest and greatest doesn't suddenly stop taking fantastic pictures. Sure it may be easier with the new tech, but for years the 1d3 was considered good enough for professionals. At this point, the T2i is so old, you don't have to go latest and greatest for an upgrade. The only concern I have for older professional tech is how it was used. The 1d camera body was built for the toughest conditions and photogs weren't afraid to use them there. Just do some research and pay attention to shutter count.

Edited June 15, 2015 by ikirumata

[Ecuador]

Before buying my next camera I wanted to try both but shop only had T6.Still waiting on stock of new T6i but salesman assured me they were both identical apart from the top plate on the T6i. I did notice that the T6 does not have an eye sensor which the T2i has.There is a separate button which you need to press to switch off the LCD screen.Not sure if I would find this annoying.The T6i does have the sensor.The T6 also appears to use a new focus system which is a black grid rather than the focus points which turn red to indicate the active focus point/s.In the shop when using the camera and focusing on dark areas it was at times difficult to be sure the camera had focused on the right area.With the T2i the active point flashed red.

[utahtea]

Considering upgrading to either T6 or T6i. Reviews seem positive. Anyone purchased one of these new cameras?

 

I'm wondering what you decided on.

 

I have a Canon Rebel T2i that has been having issues with the on/off switch for the last two years. It just turns itself off and it won't always just turn right back on. It's really bad when you only have one chance at an animal shot! Last month it started having other issues too and it's not reliable enough to take on our upcoming cruise to Australia and New Zealand.

 

Before that we had a Canon Rebel XT we bought in 2006 and loved it for 6 years until spots started showing up on all our pictures. It wasn't the lenses and after having it professionally cleaned it was better but you could still see spots. That's when we bought the T2i.

 

I'm wondering if I should change to a Nikon and what would be comparable in about the same price range. I'm a total amateur but love to take pictures and usually use the manual settings.

 

I have the EF - S 18 -55 mm 3.5 - 5.6 IS II and the EF - S 55-250 mm 4 - 5.6 IS II lenses. I would really like to just have one lenses that went from 18 to 200 or 18 to 250 if there are any decent ones out there.

 

Utahtea

[peety3]

I have a Canon Rebel T2i that has been having issues with the on/off switch for the last two years. It just turns itself off and it won't always just turn right back on. It's really bad when you only have one chance at an animal shot! Last month it started having other issues too and it's not reliable enough to take on our upcoming cruise to Australia and New Zealand.

 

Before that we had a Canon Rebel XT we bought in 2006 and loved it for 6 years until spots started showing up on all our pictures. It wasn't the lenses and after having it professionally cleaned it was better but you could still see spots. That's when we bought the T2i.

 

I'm wondering if I should change to a Nikon and what would be comparable in about the same price range. I'm a total amateur but love to take pictures and usually use the manual settings.

 

I have the EF - S 18 -55 mm 3.5 - 5.6 IS II and the EF - S 55-250 mm 4 - 5.6 IS II lenses. I would really like to just have one lenses that went from 18 to 200 or 18 to 250 if there are any decent ones out there.

Did you send the XT to Canon for repair (not a local shop - Canon Factory Service in CA/NJ/VA)? Did you send the T2i to Canon for repair? I'm sorry you've had difficulties, but without giving them a chance to address it, it's not fair to expect the camera to be 110% reliable when exposed to real-world things. Their repair rates are reasonable in almost all cases, and if they decide that it's not economical to repair, they'll offer you a nice price on several different refurbished (but current) models, which could be a less expensive way to upgrade than an outright purchase.

 

As far as switching to Nikon, IMHO switching because you've had two issues that needed repair over the span of a decade is a silly reason to switch brands. You've already got an investment in lenses that will carry over to a newer camera, so switching brands will bring you back to square one. That said, I don't the models whatsoever, but I do feel like Sony is gaining a lot of market share fast, with lots of happy customers.

 

There are several 18-200 lenses to pick from, and I think Tamron has an 18-270. A friend has the Canon 18-200 and it has served him well for years. It's not cheap, about $700 currently. The 10x zooms (and the 15x 18-270s) aren't my cup of tea, as the optical quality isn't as great as other lenses, but the convenience is definitely there and I wouldn't hesitate to use it for a wide variety of cruises.

[utahtea]

Did you send the XT to Canon for repair (not a local shop - Canon Factory Service in CA/NJ/VA)? Did you send the T2i to Canon for repair? I'm sorry you've had difficulties, but without giving them a chance to address it, it's not fair to expect the camera to be 110% reliable when exposed to real-world things. Their repair rates are reasonable in almost all cases, and if they decide that it's not economical to repair, they'll offer you a nice price on several different refurbished (but current) models, which could be a less expensive way to upgrade than an outright purchase.

 

As far as switching to Nikon, IMHO switching because you've had two issues that needed repair over the span of a decade is a silly reason to switch brands. You've already got an investment in lenses that will carry over to a newer camera, so switching brands will bring you back to square one. That said, I don't the models whatsoever, but I do feel like Sony is gaining a lot of market share fast, with lots of happy customers.

 

There are several 18-200 lenses to pick from, and I think Tamron has an 18-270. A friend has the Canon 18-200 and it has served him well for years. It's not cheap, about $700 currently. The 10x zooms (and the 15x 18-270s) aren't my cup of tea, as the optical quality isn't as great as other lenses, but the convenience is definitely there and I wouldn't hesitate to use it for a wide variety of cruises.

 

No, we didn't send the XT to Canon for repair. Maybe we should have but after 6 years of a lot of use, we were ready for a new camera and all the advancements that came with it. We gave the XT to our adult son who was happy to have it.

 

At this point I don't want to throw a lot of money at the T2i on repairs. I've been researching and for about $30 it looks like my DH could replace the top cover cabinet on our T2i. If it works, then my son will get a newer camera. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be getting a new one.

 

I was thinking of changing to a Nikon because I've read they have a better quality of picture. I've seen pictures taken with a Nikon D7100 at the same time I took picture with my Canon and their pictures had better color and were sharper. I also have read that the Nikon lenses are better than the Canon lenses.

 

I've been holding off buying a zoom lens of 18 to 200 (or higher) only because my Canon was having problems. I thought if I was putting out that much money for a lens I wanted to make sure it would work on the next camera I bought. Whether I keep the T2i or buy a new camera, the zoom lens is in my future.

 

DH and I were looking at the Nikon D5500 online yesterday. Any comments on that camera?

 

Utahtea

[peety3]

I was thinking of changing to a Nikon because I've read they have a better quality of picture. I've seen pictures taken with a Nikon D7100 at the same time I took picture with my Canon and their pictures had better color and were sharper. I also have read that the Nikon lenses are better than the Canon lenses.

 

I've been holding off buying a zoom lens of 18 to 200 (or higher) only because my Canon was having problems. I thought if I was putting out that much money for a lens I wanted to make sure it would work on the next camera I bought. Whether I keep the T2i or buy a new camera, the zoom lens is in my future.

 

DH and I were looking at the Nikon D5500 online yesterday. Any comments on that camera?

Nikon tends to default to a higher setting for saturation, causing an out-of-the-box look that people usually claim is "better color" (more like "more color"). The same goes for sharpness. Better lenses? I don't think so. Canon and Nikon have been essentially neck-and-neck at the top of the market share for years if not decades. Do you really think Canon would still be alive if Nikon had better lenses? Sure, now and then, one company releases a product that puts them ahead in a certain category, but then the other company releases something that causes a leapfrog.

 

Personally, I've been telling people to stick with Canon for two reasons for years, and lately it's become three:

 

1) Entry-level Nikon cameras (D3xxx and D5xxx, plus some other older ones) do NOT have an autofocus motor in the camera. Some Nikon lenses do NOT have an autofocus motor in the lens. As such, if you ever choose an "autofocus" lens that doesn't have a motor to put on your "autofocus" camera, it'll be manual focus, though it would be autofocus on a different (aka more expensive) camera. Canon never does that - if the lens is AF, there's a motor inside, period, and there's never a motor in the body. Will this matter to you? Probably not...Nikon has been narrowing the gap, but it used to mean that if you wanted an 85mm prime lens, you'd have to skip the $400 option and go to the $1400 option (which is a better lens, no doubt, but it meant the cheaper option which is a much better place to start was "out").

 

2) If bird photography is in your future, Canon at least has a huge lead on lens experience and manufacturing with fluorite, a fantastic material for making those big telephoto lenses.

 

3) If you're ever going to get into lighting, the aftermarket triggering systems tend to come out for Canon first, Nikon a somewhat distant second, and if any other brand is supported, it'd be Sony but even more distant. PocketWizard Mini/Flex was this way, Profoto B-series TTL studio lights are this way, and who knows what else will follow in those footsteps.

 

I believe Nikon has also stopped offering spare parts for sale for its lenses and cameras, which is putting a big stop on aftermarket repairs. They've also been slower than usual lately (this can be a very variable thing, however). I sent a lens to Canon for cleaning/calibration and a very minor repair via FedEx Ground on 5/20, it arrived on 5/24, I approved the repair estimate on 5/25, and it was shipped back to me on 5/31, for $56 plus $14 for two-day shipping. I doubt you'd get a Nikon repair back that quickly, but alas have no direct experience to speak of.

[utahtea]

peety3,

 

Thank you for all the feed back. I have a lot to think about.

 

Utahtea

[havoc315]

Nikon tends to default to a higher setting for saturation, causing an out-of-the-box look that people usually claim is "better color" (more like "more color"). The same goes for sharpness. Better lenses? I don't think so. Canon and Nikon have been essentially neck-and-neck at the top of the market share for years if not decades. Do you really think Canon would still be alive if Nikon had better lenses? Sure, now and then, one company releases a product that puts them ahead in a certain category, but then the other company releases something that causes a leapfrog.

 

Personally, I've been telling people to stick with Canon for two reasons for years, and lately it's become three:

 

1) Entry-level Nikon cameras (D3xxx and D5xxx, plus some other older ones) do NOT have an autofocus motor in the camera. Some Nikon lenses do NOT have an autofocus motor in the lens. As such, if you ever choose an "autofocus" lens that doesn't have a motor to put on your "autofocus" camera, it'll be manual focus, though it would be autofocus on a different (aka more expensive) camera. Canon never does that - if the lens is AF, there's a motor inside, period, and there's never a motor in the body. Will this matter to you? Probably not...Nikon has been narrowing the gap, but it used to mean that if you wanted an 85mm prime lens, you'd have to skip the $400 option and go to the $1400 option (which is a better lens, no doubt, but it meant the cheaper option which is a much better place to start was "out").

 

2) If bird photography is in your future, Canon at least has a huge lead on lens experience and manufacturing with fluorite, a fantastic material for making those big telephoto lenses.

 

3) If you're ever going to get into lighting, the aftermarket triggering systems tend to come out for Canon first, Nikon a somewhat distant second, and if any other brand is supported, it'd be Sony but even more distant. PocketWizard Mini/Flex was this way, Profoto B-series TTL studio lights are this way, and who knows what else will follow in those footsteps.

 

I believe Nikon has also stopped offering spare parts for sale for its lenses and cameras, which is putting a big stop on aftermarket repairs. They've also been slower than usual lately (this can be a very variable thing, however). I sent a lens to Canon for cleaning/calibration and a very minor repair via FedEx Ground on 5/20, it arrived on 5/24, I approved the repair estimate on 5/25, and it was shipped back to me on 5/31, for $56 plus $14 for two-day shipping. I doubt you'd get a Nikon repair back that quickly, but alas have no direct experience to speak of.

 

I'm going to agree and disagree with you...

 

The biggest reason not to switch from Canon to Nikon, or vice versa, is simply that the pros and cons aren't big enough to be worth switching, if you are invested into a system deeply. It goes in both directions.

But it's not like if you are interested in bird photography, that makes Canon better because of the fluorite elements. Both brands make fantastic telephoto lenses very capable for birding. Your results will depend on the skill of the photographer, not the brand. And after-market trigger systems would be a darn silly reason to pick one brand over the other. There are plenty of trigger systems available for both brands already. Ok, the 4.0 Canon version of pocketwizards may come out a few months before the Nikon version.... so oh no, Nikon users may be stuck with the 3.0 version for a bit longer. Lack of an AF-motor? I own the Nikon D750, it has an AF-motor.. I've owned, over time, about 10 Nikon lenses for it.. and they have all had internal motors. I'm not against buying a Nikon lens without an AF-motor. My camera is capable of it. But it's simply never even been an issue, all the truly modern and current Nikon lenses have their own motor anyway. If I lacked the motor, I wouldn't be missing anything.

 

Canon and Nikon are much much much more alike than they are different. Thus, there are just really no compelling reasons to switch between the two brands.

Now at the same time, if you aren't deeply invested... and I include people who may just own 1 or 2 consumer lenses, which they can always re-sell... Then there is also no compelling reason AGAINST switching. So in that case, there may be a little feature that does push you in favor of one system or the other. You won't find switching transforms your photography, but maybe you do want the slightly higher dynamic range of Nikon cameras over Canon, or maybe you want the dual pixel live view AF of Canon over Nikon. These are not game changing differences, but if you aren't deeply invested, they could be enough reason to make a switch.

Edited June 7, 2016 by havoc315